1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for informing a user of an interactive viewing system what program is being viewed and for providing the user information about that program.
2. Description of Related Art
As communication technology continues to expand, individuals are faced with an ever increasing number of information sources. For example, many cable television services offer dozens of different channels from which a user can choose. Some available satellite claim to offer hundreds of channels and it is widely expected that cable services will expand in an effort to match or exceed this capability. Similar gains in the quantity of available programs and services are anticipated in areas of communication other than television.
With so many program choices, a user may frequently be unable to identify a program simply by viewing it. This can be frustrating, because many users select programs by stepping through channels to identify available programs. This practice, sometimes called "channel surfing", is most effective if the various programs can be quickly and accurately identified. If the programs cannot be readily identified or if the programs are misidentified, the user's program selection process is impaired and the user may miss part or all of a desired program. The process of identifying programs simply by viewing them is further complicated by commercials or other interruptions that may be showing at the time a particular channel is viewed.
In some cases, a user refer to various printed or on-line program guides to identify programs. However, printed program guides may not always be readily available to a user and on-line program guides typically do not allow the user to concurrently watch programs and are often time consuming and frustrating to use. For these and other reasons, many users prefer to select programs by channel surfing.